Forces of Attraction
by pennylane333
Summary: An attraction builds between Cameron and Thirteen and drama ensues. T rating is just to be safe.
1. Awakening

Thirteen was very confused. She heard many muffled voices around her.

"Her stats are normal now."

"Keep the drip going."

Thirteen shifted around and realized she was lying down on some kind of bed. She tried to look around, but the bright light stung her eyes and sent pain shooting through her head.

"Look, she's coming around."

She felt a hand lightly touch her shoulder.

"Remy"

Thirteen recognized that voice. It was Cameron. So that must mean she was in the hospital. The question was why.

She attempted opening her eyes again and was able to blink the room into focus. Cameron, Foreman, Taub, and Kutner were all standing about staring at her in a hospital room. She glanced around, which made her head pound again, and noticed that she was hooked up to an iv and a monitor. She laid her head back down on her pillow, closing her eyes to try to stop the pain.

"What happened to me?", Thirteen asked opening her eyes.

Foreman, Taub, and Kutner all began to answer at the same time.

"Why don't you two get back to work," Foreman suggested to Taub and Kutner, "Dr. Cameron and I can handle it from here."

Taub and Kutner slouched out of the room without much protest, waving goodbye to Thirteen and promising to drop by later.

"So, what did happen to me?", Thirteen questioned again.

"You overdosed.", Foreman stated, strolling over to a chair and plopping down into it.

Thirteen thought back over what she could remember of the last night. She had been out partying with some of her normal crowd, when she had run in to a particularly attractive blonde. Thirteen had invited the blonde over and they had enjoyed some 'party favors', but definitely not enough for her to overdose on. At least she thought…

Foreman interrupted her thought process. "Do you remember what you took?"

Thirteen rubbed both her hands over her eyes, "I don't know what they're called."

"You took something without knowing what it was?", Forman asked with distain.

"Look," said Thirteen removing her hands so that she could shoot daggers at Forman with her eyes, "I don't need a lecture right now. This is really none of your business anyway."

"Fine." Forman stood up and walked across the room, radiating a kind of cool anger. "Ruin your life. What do I care? You obviously don't." He slammed the door shut, which sent pain spiraling through Thirteen's head. She closed her eyes again, pushing Foreman and his stupid comments out of her head.

When she opened her eyes, she noticed that Cameron was still in the room. Cameron was leaning against a wall, pressing her head to the cool surface and staring at Thirteen with an expression that Thirteen couldn't quite place.

"Would you like to scold me too?", Thirteen shot out coolly.

Cameron stared at her with that strange, almost sad expression for a moment longer, then shook her head slightly and walked out.

The moment Cameron had left, Thirteen had regretted what she had said. Thirteen had always been good at driving people away, especially lately. The smallest things irritated her and she just snapped at people for no reason. Well, she supposed Foreman deserved it for always trying to pry into her personal life, but not Cameron. Cameron had always been nice and understanding with Thirteen. Thirteen made a mental note to apologize the next time she saw Cameron,


	2. Thanks

which was a lot sooner than she would have figured.

Near the end of the day, Thirteen heard the door to her room crack open and saw Cameron's head peaking in.

"Thought you might be hungry.", explained Cameron, producing a styrofoam food container.

"I'm starving actually.", said Thirteen pulling herself up into a sitting position. She had forgotten that she had absolutely nothing in her stomach due to the fact that it had been pumped that morning. She had been sleeping mostly all day, so the hunger pains hadn't started until now. Cameron sidled into the room, placing the container in Thirteen's lap.

"I didn't know what you liked, so I got you a little of everything. Well, a little of everything that the hospital cafeteria has to offer, so not much really."

Thirteen popped open the container and the smell of food almost made her start drooling. She usually despised the hospitals food, but in this case she was so hungry that it looked like the best food in the world. She grabbed a plastic fork that was in with the food and started shoveling mac and cheese into her mouth. Cameron smiled amusedly and started to back out of the room, "I better go…"

"No, wait.", called Thirteen hurriedly putting the food aside.

Cameron wandered back toward Thirteen, looking curious.

"I wanted to apologize,', Thirteen explained, "I snapped earlier and I…"

"Don't worry about it.", Cameron cut in. "You must be under so much stress right now…"

"That's no excuse to be rude though. I know I can be difficult sometimes, but I don't mean…"

"I know." There was a pause where a glance of understanding passed between the two women. "It's fine. Really."

"Still…forgive me?" Thirteen looked up at Cameron with puppy-dog eyes.

"Of course."

There was another pause broken by the sound of sirens in the distance.

"I really do have to go.", Cameron said backing out of the room again.

"Thanks for the food."

"Anytime."


	3. Breakthrough

Cameron was sitting around, looking over files during her night shift, when she decided to go check on Thirteen. Thirteen had been in the hospital for a couple of days and even though Cameron thought Thirteen should stay longer, she knew it was impossible to keep Thirteen from doing whatever she wanted. And what Thirteen wanted was to get back to work as soon as possible. Cameron worried about Thirteen. All Thirteen had was her obsession with work and partying. Cameron knew that most of Thirteen's family was dead and she couldn't imagine how alone Thirteen must feel. Cameron wanted to snap Thirteen out of her destructive spiral, the same way Foreman did, but she knew that a direct approach wouldn't work. She knew that in order for Thirteen to come out of her slippery slope, she had to want to save herself.

Cameron cracked open the door to Thirteen's room slowly, trying to let in as little light as possible, and scanned over the room. Cameron looked closer at Thirteen's body and noticed that it was shaking slightly. She also heard light gasps escaping from Thirteen. Cameron slid in the door and walked over to Thirteen's bed. She touched Thirteen's shoulder and Thirteen twisted around in surprise. Cameron could see tear stains running down Thirteen's face, which Thirteen tried hurriedly to wipe off.

Cameron sat down on Thirteen's bed, looking concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing.", said Thirteen, turning her face away.

"Come on, Remy." Cameron laid her hand on top of one of Thirteen's.

Thirteen looked up at Cameron, looking slightly amused. "You're the only one who calls me that, you know."

"Well, it's your name, isn't it?", Cameron teased.

Thirteen looked away, smiling and wiping her eyes some more.

"But, really Remy, what's wrong?", asked Cameron, looking concerned again and giving Thirteen's hand a light squeeze.

Thirteen's smiled faded as she looked at Cameron. "I've just been so stupid.", she gasped out, her tears starting again. "I'm dying and I've been wasting the time I have left. I've let my work slip. I've been pushing away everyone who cares about me. I don't even remember what I do most nights." Thirteen began sobbing out right.

Cameron looked down at Thirteen and was shocked by her vulnerability. Thirteen always seemed so strong and now she seemed the complete opposite. Cameron chest tensed with all of the pity she felt for the woman in front of her. Cameron bent down and scooped Thirteen up in a hug. Thirteen cried into her shoulder, while Cameron stroked her hair. When Thirteen had calmed down, they leaned apart.

Cameron stared at Thirteen for a while in silence, while Thirteen wiped her face.

When Thirteen looked back up at Cameron, Cameron said softly, "You still have time, you know. You can't get back the time you wasted, but you don't have to waste anymore."

"Yeah, I know." Thirteen smiled a little through her still damp eyes.


	4. Friends

It had been about a week since Thirteen had gotten back to work and she had finally finished reviewing all of the cases she had missed. She felt fantastic. She had her work out of the way, she had started actually sleeping at night, she hadn't done any drugs since she had ODed, and it was Friday night. She would normally be going home, but instead today she was headed down to see Cameron in the ER. Thirteen wanted to thank Cameron for helping her through her mini-breakdown. Though it had been slightly embarrassing for Thirteen to open up that much to anyone, Cameron had been great and Thirteen felt she could really trust her.

Thirteen swung into the ER office and found Cameron alone digging through paperwork.

Thirteen leaned against the doorframe. "Hi there."

Cameron looked up, surprised. "Oh, hey.", she said smiling. "Glad to see your feeling better."

"Yeah, well it might have been difficult to feel much worse.", Thirteen joked, strolling over to Cameron's desk.

"So, what are you doing down in the ER?"

Thirteen leaned against the desk. "Actually, I came down here to see if you wanted to go get dinner. I figure I owe you one."

"Umm." Cameron stared doubtfully down at her papers

"Come on. It's a Friday night."

Cameron looked up at Thirteen still unsure. "I don't know. I should really finish these reports."

Thirteen rolled her eyes. "The papers will still be there on Monday, I promise."

Cameron's mouth formed into a kind of half smile, which Thirteen thought was ridiculously cute. "Alright.", Cameron said standing up. "Where are we going?"

"Wherever you'd like."

They ended up going to Cameron's favorite restaurant, a place with a great buffet and salad bar. Cameron made herself a salad and got some pasta, while Thirteen piled a little of everything on a plate. They hadn't gotten off work until pretty late, so the basically had the restaurant to themselves.

"I wouldn't have pegged you for a buffet kind of girl.", Thirteen said, sliding into a chair with her giant tray of food.

"Well, I'm glad I'm not totally predictable."

"Speaking of which, what's going on with you and Chase?", Thirteen asked conspiratorily.

"How is that a 'speaking of which'?"

"It's not really, but what's up with you two? I've heard some rumors." Thirteen wiggled her eyebrow.

"Nothing. It's just a casual thing.", Cameron said, shrugging it off.

"Hmm…" Thirteen leaned back in her chair. "I didn't peg you as the casual kind of girl either."

"I'm just full of surprises aren't I?" Cameron and Thirteen exchanged smiles.

Cameron leaned towards Thirteen asking, "What about you and Foreman?"

Thirteen choked on her food. "What?" She started laughing. "No way."

"I thought you guys seem kind of close lately."

"Yeah, as friends. He is a nice guy, but so not my type."

"Oh yeah? What is your type then?"

"It varies, but they have to have some spunk. Foreman is just very…" Thirteen made a mock serious face and moved her hand in a straight line.

"I know what you mean.", Cameron said smiling. "He can be kind of boring sometimes…but he's a great doctor."

"Well, yeah. He has to be if he was on House's team, doesn't he?"

Cameron and Thirteen continued on talking about House's crazy antics, how the new interns were working out, and many other non-work-related things. They talked and talked until finally one of the waiters walked up and told them that the restaurant was closing. Cameron looked at her watch and was shocked to realize that they had been there for 3 hours.


	5. Attraction

So the tradition began of Cameron and Thirteen's Friday night dinners. They tried out tons of different kinds of restaurants and were always somehow the last ones to leave. Cameron loved having someone to talk to who would actually listen to what she was saying and Thirteen loved having someone constant in her life who she knew she could trust.

It was another Friday night and Cameron was just packing up to leave when Thirteen strolled in looking especially cheerful.

"Why are you so happy?", Cameron questioned, pausing her packing.

"I've got some good news actually.", Thirteen said, leaning against the lockers.

"Do tell."

"I don't know if you've heard about the new clinical trial Foreman is doing..."

Cameron nodded.

"Well, he's signed me up for it."

"That's great.", Cameron said smiling.

"Yeah, well, who knows if it will do any good." Thirteen shrugged. "But its worth a shot I guess."

"We should celebrate."

"Oh yeah? How?"

"I don't know.", Cameron said, mulling it over. "Got any ideas?"

"I've got one." Thirteen's smile broadened.

"Oh, god. I can't even imagine." Cameron knew that Thirteen got up to some pretty crazy stuff.

"Come on.", Thirteen whined, playfully grabbing Cameron's arm. "Trust me."

Cameron looked doubtful.

"It's legal, I promise.", Thirteen assured her.

"Alright."

Cameron had no idea where they were headed as she followed Thirteen's car. Cameron didn't really go out that much at night, except on dates with Chase, which were definitely not the craziness she pictured Thirteen's nights to be. Cameron wasn't shocked at all when Thirteen pulled into the parking lot of a nightclub, but she still had a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had only been to a nightclub a couple of times before and that had been a long time ago.

Thirteen joined Cameron as she got out of the car and immediately noticed that Cameron did not look totally at ease.

"What's up?", Thirteen asked concerned.

"Umm, well, it's just…It's stupid, but I just haven't been to that many clubs before and I um…I'm a little nervous." Cameron looked at Thirteen pathetically.

"Don't worry about it", Thirteen reassured her, patting Cameron's arm. "It'll be fun, I promise, and if you don't like it we can leave, ok?"

"Fiiine."

"It's really not that scary.", Thirteen teased, bumping shoulders with Cameron as they walked towards the entrance.

As it turned out, Thirteen was right. It still wouldn't be Cameron's top pick as a place to hang out (there were way too many people and it was too noisy), but it really wasn't as scary as she had thought. She actually ended up having a lot of fun. Thirteen started Cameron off with a couple of shots to get her to loosen up a little, which did the trick beautifully. Cameron started ranting about things she was usually very private about, like her loss of her husband and her doubts about Chase. By around the fifth shot however, most of the serious talk had subsided into giggling over stupid hospital rumors and some of the unusual people at the club. It was pretty obvious by that time too that Thirteen had much more experience with alcohol than Cameron did. While Thirteen was feeling a pretty good buzz, Cameron was on a whole other level, bordering on drunk, but not quite.

Thirteen laid down her glass and turned towards Cameron. "Let's dance."

"What? No. I don't do that."

"How do you know unless you try?", Thirteen said, not bothering to wait for a reply. She grabbed Cameron's hand and dragged her out onto the floor. Cameron didn't put up too much of a fight, owing largely to the effects of the alcohol.

When they got on the floor, Thirteen started dancing around, whereas Cameron basically stood in place.

Thirteen rolled her eyes and moved closer to Cameron saying, "Oh, come on. Do I have to show you how?"

Thirteen put her hands on Cameron's hips and moved them side to side, until Cameron was moving them on her own.

"There you go. See, it's not so hard, is it?", Thirteen teased.

Thirteen took Cameron's hands and spun Cameron around a couple of times, so that Cameron started giggling. Thirteen smiled, moving closer, so that their bodies were almost touching. Cameron looked into Thirteen eyes and felt something that completely confused her. It was all so strange for her, being there, and dancing like this, but she felt safe as long as she was close to Thirteen. Thirteen placed her hand on Cameron's waist, pulling her closer, so that their bodies made contact. Thirteen didn't really know what she was doing, but Cameron wasn't pulling away, so she took that as a good sign. Emotion surged between their eyes, as they were both caught up in the moment and the rest of the club blurred out of focus.

The moment was shattered, however, by the music changing to slower song. People began to couple up as Thirteen and Cameron hurried awkwardly off the floor.

"Well, I think you got the hang of it.", Thirteen said, once they had reached the safety of the bar.

"Yeah.", Cameron said distractedly. She was so confused.


	6. Awkward

It had been a couple of weeks since the nightclub celebration and things between Cameron and Thirteen were a little tense. They had each come up with excuses to miss their usual Friday night dinners and mostly just exchanged pleasantries when they happened to run into each other. That night at the club, they had both felt something that had excited and scared them. Thirteen was freaked because she knew that any relationship with a coworker was a bad plan, not that she even did relationships. Cameron was freaked because, well, Thirteen was a girl and because she was in a sort of relationship with Chase.

Cameron was once again trying to process it all while she leaned against the main desk, waiting for a file.

"Cameron. Cameron!"

Cameron flipped around and saw Foreman standing beside her. She had been too distracted to notice his approach.

"Oh, hey."

"Hey. Can you do me a favor?", Foreman asked hurriedly.

"Yeah, sure. What is it?"

"Can you talk to Thirteen for me?"

Cameron froze. That had definitely not been the favor that she had expected. "Why?"

"She hasn't been coming to her sessions for the clinical trial. I've tried to talk to her, but she keeps brushing me off. I thought since you two seem pretty close she might talk to you about it.", Foreman explained.

"Umm" Cameron realized that she had already agreed to do the favor, but she really wasn't looking forward to the prospect of another awkward conversation with Thirteen.

"Please. I think this trial would be great for her."

Cameron knew he was right. "Fine. Yes, I'll talk to her, but I don't know if it will do any good."

"Well, try anyway."

While Cameron wandered down to House's office, where she figured Thirteen would be, she was filled with a sort of nervous dread. She knew that she was being stupid, that nothing had actually happened to make her act this way, but knowing that didn't make it any less awkward. Her mind changed tracks as she began thinking about what Foreman had said and became curious as to why Thirteen was missing her sessions. Thirteen had seemed so excited about them at first.

As Cameron approached the office, she saw Thirteen sitting alone on the floor of the meeting room with papers spread in a ring around her. She had a textbook open in her lap and was completely focused on the notes she was taking. Cameron walked in the room slowly, unnoticed by Thirteen.

"Hi."

Thirteen quickly glanced up, looking surprised. "Hey."

There was a silence while Cameron strode closer, looking down at Thirteen's papers. "What are you working on?", Cameron asked, trying to start some kind of conversation.

"This really weird case. We can't figure out what's making this woman's liver fail. We've run about a hundred tests, but there haven't been any hits. I've been trying to find something useful in all this," Thirteen motioned to the papers, "but no luck so far."

Cameron nodded, not actually too interested in the case. Thirteen began reading again, until she looked up from her book and noticed that Cameron was still standing there.

"Did you want something?"

"Actually,", Cameron said walking over and sitting down beside Thirteen, "I heard that you weren't going to the clinical trial anymore."

"Foreman?" Thirteen sounded irritated.

"Yeah. He is just concerned about you…So am I."

Thirteen turned her face towards Cameron, listening more closely now.

"So, why aren't you going?", Cameron asked.

"I've been busy." Thirteen turned back towards her work. "I can't just stop in the middle of a case to go do some trial. House gets mad when I leave."

Cameron kept staring at Thirteen, while Thirteen feigned interest in the diagram in front of her. They both knew that wasn't the real reason for Thirteen's absence at her sessions. Thirteen eventually glanced back up at Cameron and was touched by the look of concern in Cameron's eyes.

"I can't be in that waiting room.", Thirteen said in a softer tone.

"Why?"

"Some of the people in the trial have a more advanced case than I do and I just can't look at them because…"

"Because you know that you will be like that eventually?", Cameron supplied.

"No, it's not that…It's because…because they remind me of my mom." Thirteen had trouble getting the words out. It was difficult for her to open up, especially about her childhood.

Cameron knew that Thirteen's mother had had Huntington's and that she had died of it during Thirteen's childhood. She couldn't imagine how difficult it must have been for Thirteen to watch her mother slowly fade away.

"I think you should talk to the other patients.", Cameron stated. "If you get to know them on an individual basis, maybe they won't remind you of your mother so much."

Thirteen considered this, leaning her head back against the wall. She had hated her mother when she was younger. Her mother yelled and had ridiculous mood swings, which Thirteen now realized were due to the disease, but back then Thirteen had just hated her. She had been almost relieved when her mother had died. Seeing the people in the waiting room had caused Thirteen to relive all the worst memories of her childhood. She thought that Cameron might be right. Cameron was usually right about this kind of thing and it couldn't hurt to at least try.

"Maybe." There was a pause. Thirteen turned toward Cameron. "I've missed our Friday night dinners."

"Me too." Cameron really had missed talking to Thirteen.

"Are you busy tonight?"

"I have a late shift, but I'm free after that."

"Then come over to my place when you get off and I'll make some dinner."

"I didn't know you could cook."

"I have many surprising talents."

It was good to see Thirteen's smile again.


	7. A Slight Complication

Thirteen leaned against the counter, reading the instructions on the back of a Hamburger Helper box. So, she had lied a little, cooking wasn't actually a talent she possessed. She figured it couldn't be too hard and besides, this way she got to be alone with Cameron, which she was looking forward to since they basically hadn't seen each other in weeks. Thirteen had been a little scared of the attraction she was feeling for Cameron at first, but after talking to her again, Thirteen knew she felt much better with Cameron in her life than without her.

Thirteen heard the doorbell ring and quickly set the stove. She walked over to the door and pulled it open to see Cameron, looking a little chilled.

"Come on in.", Thirteen said, stepping back from the door.

Cameron hurried over the threshold. "It's cold out there."

Thirteen shut the door. "I know. They say it might snow sometime this week."

Cameron pulled off her heavy coat. "I've been meaning to talk…"

"Here, I'll take that.", Thirteen cut in, grabbing the coat and setting it down on a chair. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Umm, there is just something that I really need to talk to you about." As Cameron said this, she placed her hand on Thirteen's arm.

"God, your hands are freezing." Thirteen took one of Cameron's hands and rubbed it between her own. Their eyes locked for a minute and Cameron totally forgot what she had been saying.

"So, what are you cooking?", Cameron asked, sliding her hand away and wandering toward the kitchen.

"Oh, nothing much.", said Thirteen, rushing over to the counter and hiding the Hamburger Helper box behind her back. "Old family recipe."

"Well, it smells good."

"Do you want something to drink?" Thirteen opened up her refrigerator, looking around in it. "I've got some wine."

"That would be good."

Thirteen got out some glasses and poured them both wine. "The food's not going to be ready for a while, if you want to watch TV or something."

"Alright."

Cameron walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. Thirteen grabbed the remote and joined her. She turned on the TV and started flipping through the channels. Cameron sipped her wine, looking over at Thirteen. Thirteen glanced up and saw Cameron staring at her.

Thirteen paused her channel flipping. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just, you're really different from how I thought you would be."

Thirteen smiled. "Did you think I'd have empty bottles and needles all over the floor?"

Cameron laughed. "Yes. That is exactly how I thought it would be."

"Oh no. Now you're picking up my sarcasm.", Thirteen teased. "Next thing you know, you'll be hitting on random women in bars."

"I doubt that."

Cameron shivered. She was still a little chilly from being outside.

"Are you cold?" Thirteen pulled a blanket off of the back of the sofa. "Here.", she said, throwing it over Cameron's legs. In the process of doing this however, Thirteen looked up and noticed that she was leaning especially close to Cameron. Cameron was looking right back at her. Thirteen froze in place, hovering in front of Cameron.

"Is that better?", Thirteen asked, barely breathing.

Cameron just nodded.

Thirteen leaned closer to Cameron, slowly shutting her eyes, and placed a light kiss on Cameron's mouth. Thirteen leaned away to gauge Cameron's reaction. Cameron sat still, looking stunned for a moment. Then her lips slowly formed into a smile and Thirteen, relieved, smiled back. Cameron moved toward Thirteen, reengaging her in a much more enthusiastic kiss.

Thirteen leaned against Cameron, easing her down onto the sofa. Thirteen kissed Cameron's cheek and then kissed a line down her neck. Cameron was completely enjoying this, but was suddenly distracted by a weird smell that seemed to be coming from the kitchen. Her eyes popped open and she noticed clouds of smoke drifting out of the oven.

"Umm, Remy."

"Uh huh.", Thirteen mumbled as she continued kissing Cameron's throat.

"I think dinners burning."

Thirteen looked around at the smoke, but didn't move. "Whatever. It was Hamburger Helper anyway."

Cameron laughed. "You cheat."

Thirteen smiled, kissing Cameron again.

Cameron pulled away, saying, "You might want to get that before your apartment burns down."

Thirteen groaned, rolling off of the sofa and walking into the kitchen. Cameron sat up, her grin fading away as she remembered the news that she had meant to tell Thirteen. She checked her pockets and realized that she must have left her cell phone in the car. "Crap."

Cameron got off the couch and pulled on her jacket saying, "I left something in the car. I'm just going to run down and get it."

"Hurry back.", Thirteen called, popping her head out of the kitchen.

Cameron left, while Thirteen pulled her attempt at cooking out of the oven. She looked at it sadly for a moment, but then smiled because she knew the burnt food had been totally worth it. She heard a phone ringing and walked into the living room to try to locate it. She listened as it rang again and discovered that the sound was coming from the sofa. She dug around in the cushions, fishing for the phone, and finally pulled out what she figured was Cameron's cell phone. Thirteen thought about it for a minute and then decided that she better answer the cell, incase it was the hospital calling to say there was some terrible emergency.

She flipped open the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, babe. I was just calling to iron out the details about the engagement party."

There was a pause. Thirteen thought she recognized that voice.

"Hello?", said the male voice on the other end of the line.

"Hey, uh, this isn't Allison."  
"Oh, who are you then?"

"Remy."

"Ohh, this is Chase."

"Whose engagement party were you talking about?", Thirteen asked quickly, praying the answer wasn't the one that she feared it would be.

"Me and Allison's. Didn't she tell you?"

Just then Cameron stumbled back inside.

"No. She didn't."


	8. Aftermath

Thirteen snapped the phone shut.

"Oh, you found it.", Cameron said, while slipping out of her coat.

Thirteen stared at Cameron with a stony face.

Cameron looked curiously up at Thirteen. "What? Who was…"

"Well, congratulations.", Thirteen interrupted coolly.

Cameron looked thoroughly confused. "What?"

"When were you going to tell me?"

"Tell you…?" Then it hit Cameron. Chase must have called. "Oh no. Chase…"

"Yeah, Chase." Thirteen threw the phone onto the sofa.

"Remy, I tried to tell you. I really did, but we just weren't talking for a while…"

Thirteen made a scoffing noise and turned away.

Cameron walked over to Thirteen and placed a hand on her shoulder. Thirteen shook it off and walked further away.

"I didn't say yes.", Cameron said softly, her eyes glistening.

Thirteen spun around. "That's not what Chase made it sound like. He was talking about an engagement party."

"I told him I had to think about it."

Thirteen glanced down at the floor. She couldn't look Cameron in the face.

"I thought you two were 'casual'.", Thirteen said slowly, keeping her eyes to the ground.

"We were…It just…" Cameron didn't know what to say. One tear dripped slowly down her face. She had never meant to hurt Thirteen.

"Just go.", Thirteen said with a hollow sounding voice.

"Please,", Cameron pleaded, "just let me explain."

"There's nothing to explain." Thirteen looked at Cameron with a hard, dark expression.

Cameron knew there was nothing she could say that would make the situation any better. She looked utterly defeated as she turned and hurried, sniffling, out of the door.

As soon as the door shut, Thirteen collapsed against the wall. She slid down it as she finally allowed tears to leak out of her eyes. She sat still for a moment, silently letting her tears spill onto her clothes. Thirteen shook her head. She should have known not to trust anyone, but she had let her guard down. She had finally let someone in and then this had happened. Thirteen brushed her tears away angrily. She should have never let herself get attached. She stood up, grabbed her coat, and hurried out the door.


	9. Relapse

Thirteen woke to the sound of ringing that seemed miles away. She blinked her eyes open and found that she was lying on her floor in pitch blackness. As she rolled over onto her back, she felt a pounding in her head matched by a nausea in her stomach. She heard the ringing again and remembered why she had woken. She reached in the general direction that the sound was coming from and located her sofa. She dug through the cushions and found a cell. She laid back down as she answered the phone.

"Hello…" Thirteen pressed her hand over her eyes.

"Hey. Who is this?" There was a woman's voice on the other side of the phone.

"Remy"

"Oh." There was a long pause. "It's Allison. I lost my cell, so I thought I'd try to call it."

"Hm." Thirteen felt faint and didn't seem to be able to use full sentences.

"Are you ok? You don't sound very good.", Cameron asked concerned.

Thirteen groaned as she rolled over on her side, holding her stomach. "I'm fine."

Cameron didn't really believe that. "Well, is it ok if I come over to pick up my phone? I really need it."

Thirteen tried to breathe deeply to keep herself from passing out.

"Remy?"

Thirteen reached toward the coffee table to pull herself up and knocked a glass over, which shattered as it hit the ground.

"What was that? … Remy?"

The next time Thirteen opened her eyes, it was daylight and she was lying on her sofa. She tried to move around and discovered that she was firmly tucked in by a few layers of blankets. She reached up to brush some hair out of her face and winced as she rubbed a particularly sore spot on her head. She glanced around her apartment and was surprised to see someone else there. Cameron was sitting asleep in a chair a little distance away.

Thirteen tried to think back over what had happened the night before. She had been out partying, like she had been for basically the whole last week. She remembered getting home and answering a phone call. She also remembered throwing up a good number of times. While she was thinking over it, Cameron began to stir.

"You're awake." Cameron said, shifting around in her chair. "I was a little worried you were never going to wake up."

"How long have you been here?"

"Since around 1. I called you…Don't you remember?"

"Not really." Thirteen shook her head and felt a jolt of pain. "How did you get in anyway?"

"The door was open."

Thirteen tried to clear her mind, but it was proving difficult. She had so many emotions and questions running through it.

"Why did you come here?", Thirteen asked, a little coolly.

"I was worried about you." Cameron sounded hurt that Thirteen was questioning her. "You sounded really messed up on the phone and then I heard a crash…"

"I didn't need you to come."

"Obviously you kind of did.", Cameron argued, getting upset.

Thirteen stared angrily at the ceiling.

"Maybe you're right.", Cameron said standing up and scooping up her jacket. "Maybe I shouldn't have come."

Cameron slammed the door on her way out. She leaned against a wall in the hallway, trying to keep herself from crying. She should have known Thirteen wouldn't have forgiven her. Cameron knew she had screwed up everything. She had never expected to feel the way she felt about Thirteen. It scared her. She wished she could just love Chase. That would make everything so much easier. But when he had asked her to marry him, she couldn't make herself say yes. A tear squeezed out of her eyes. She didn't know what to do.


End file.
